In his recent address to the nation, President Putin invoked the specter of nuclear war. Any attempts by North Atlantic Treaty nations to send troops to Ukraine risk “a conflict with nuclear weapons and the end of civilization.” Communist China’s latest government report omits the word “peace” in reference to Free China. Meanwhile, Germany has legalized cannabis. Despite the threats, political gravity seems missing across much of the West.

In Washington and Europe’s western hubs, there is a troubling ambiguity in identifying our adversaries. Consider the European Union’s portrayal of China as a partner, competitor, and strategic rival. Washington’s insistence on Palestinian statehood as a remedy for Iran-backed terrorism in Israel similarly confuses friend and foe. Our enemies, too, are often portrayed as familiar and disjointed. This, rather than members of a potent coalition.

A coalition that includes North Korea and other proxies. The threat posed by China today differs from the Cold War-era menace of the Soviet Union. China’s industrial output now rivals that of America and Europe combined. In 1956, Soviet manufacturing capacity was some 48 to 51 percent of ours. China’s navy is today the world’s largest, with a fleet of more than 340 ships. That number is expected to reach 400 by 2025.

China’s navy is actively developing guided missile destroyers, cruisers, and frigates. Soon, it will be able to execute long-range precision strikes against land targets from both its submarine and surface combatants. China and Iran are developing nuclear weapons. In 2022, North Korea conducted its first full-range intercontinental ballistic missile test in five years. It has since pursued policies to harden itself as a menacing nuclear power. 

Traditionally, Russia and China might have condemned such efforts at the United Nations. Yet relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have strengthened over their shared antipathy toward Washington. North Korea has also publicly supported Russia’s war in Ukraine. Its ballistic missiles are being used by Russian forces. These are not yesterday’s enemies. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are not the West’s sparring partners.

Nor are they expectant members of the rules-based international order. Decades of failed engagement policies should have made this clear. This coalition of nations is a capable Western adversary. Its threat also extends beyond military considerations to include civilizational challenges. Through schemes like its Global Security and Global Civilization initiatives, Beijing hopes to subvert and supplant Western norms and values. 

Vladimir Putin also often invokes the idea of a new world forged against the “immoral West.” Speaking at the forum “For the Freedom of Nations” in Moscow last month, he berated the West for imposing “alien values” on Global South countries. The event drew some 400 delegates from 50 nations across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Some, like Turkey and Kazakhstan, have helped Moscow circumvent EU sanctions.

Indeed, the challenge is not of a standalone Russia, or China, or Iran. It is far-reaching in scope. Western leaders have seemingly yet to grasp the totality of this threat and convey it to their publics. Such confusion surrounding our enemies has, in turn, yielded confused policies. For instance, President Biden last week issued an executive order to safeguard Americans’ personal data from being sold to China.

At the same time, our ambassador to Red China, Nicholas Burns, inked an agreement for greater travel between our nations. Germany’s defense minister has urged “war readiness” as Chancellor Scholz has hinted at a post-war rapprochement with Russia. As Europe’s navies deploy to counter attacks from Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea, Europe’s trade with Tehran has helped to finance such activity.

The Canadians, it turns out, have been collaborating with Beijing on bioweapons research. I could go on. In the face of real and existential threats, the West seems to lack gravitas. Yet needed are clear-eyed strategies that recognize who our enemies are and offer real deterrence. Such strategies comprise various measures. For Washington, these involve reinstating President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran.

Nuclear deterrence must be reestablished, and our arsenal modernized. Requiring modernization, too, is our wider defense industrial base, key to which is unleashing American energy. We must bolster our dedication to Indo-Pacific allies and hone our information warfare tactics. There is much that we can do. Yet effective policy depends on leaders clear-eyed about who our enemies are and with the chutzpah to take actions to stop them.

Otherwise, we might need Germany’s weed to ease the coming blow.